RPlog:The Trip to Ord Trasi, Part 2
Unknown planet, dragging a Jedi prisoner without knowing what is going on. Exactly the situation Cantrell loves. Brushing his hand along the chestpiece of his armor, the deep gouge he received from Coruscant still present, Cantrell throws his rifle up, allowing it to rest on his shoulder. He throws a quick glance over at Danik and Johanna before hearing Dareus exclaimation. "Sergeant, we have contact!" One of the troopers points ahead of the team. Cantrell nods, raising his rifle up to eye level. "Rifles up! Anything not Imperial, show no quarter." Vadim. Of course Danik is familiar with the name; anyone in Imperial High Command is. The Emperor. The number one man. Someone Danik isn't about to double-cross. Anytime soon. Danik just sighs and shakes his head, clearly not paying much attention to Johanna's concerns. She's just a blind fool, after all. "I serve Vadim willingly, Johanna. I will do what it takes to serve him. He is my Emperor. My master. Would you disobey your master? Besides... he has what I want. It would be foolish of me to not obey him," Danik says, crossing his arms across his chest. Annoying girl. Hopefully something comes out and eats her... and well, perhaps he spoke too soon. The shriek certainly sends a shiver up the old man's spine, and Kreldin finds himself backing up, trying to hide himself admist his stormtroopers. "It may be above your blasters, Ensign," Danik quickly replies to Dareus before his eyes dart over to his trusted friend and Mandalorian supersoldier, Cantrell. "Sergeant, might I suggest we use grenades..." he says, stepping closer to Wescal. His own hand falls upon his ST-II, still tucked into his holster, though he doesn't yet take it out; it won't do much good here. "You're an imbecile," Johanna retorts, coal-black gaze raking over the assembled Imperials before settling in a rather unnerving fashion on Danik, "Don't you understand? Tossing grenades and blasting at random isn't going to get you anywhere. The more agitated stunts you pull, the more those things will keep running out of the underbrush. It's a Dark planet. Plan accordingly and try to stay calm." Who knows, maybe he likes being attacked by ugly creatures better relegated to an incinerator! Danik does have some pretty sick inclinations. Then, to Dareus, "I'm quite good with this 'fancy sword,' as you put it. The question you should be asking yourself is whether I'm *good enough* to keep all of you from getting your faces bitten off." A derisive snort escapes her as she trudges onward, rather unconcerned with either their ire or their confusion, or any mix thereof. "I'm sure we'll all have a fine time here!" she calls over her shoulder. Running head on at these things does seem rather idiotic, at the best of times. Dareus pulls the scouting squad back a few extra paces, "Sergeant; grenade the shit out of there." He goes down to bracing on one knee, keeping his blaster eye level at anything else; moving slowly across the horizon. While he waits for the grenades to get tossed, he decides, with a grin to look at the admiral, "What the hell; suppose a few shots really won't kill ourselves." Looking at the creature, he fires a few bolts towards it. He's out of his leage here, hell, all of them seem to be out of their league here; but maybe he'll get that chance to kill one of these things nicely. For once, the crazy Jedi woman makes some sort of sense. If this is a Dark planet, then the creatures here would be drawn by anger and fear and all that stuff that's said about the Dark Side. Cantrell looks over towards Johanna and then to Danik once before reaching over to his ZCF. His obligation is to follow orders as given. "At your command, Admiral. Though she may be right." Cantrell gestures towards Johanna while loading up his ZCF. "We might need to prepare outselves for a giant-shitstorm after this." His voice grates through his helm as he turns around, gesturing everyone to take some cover. "Fire in the hole!" Krieg finds himself back in teh woods with fellow pilot Dareus, and Danik, the Grand Admiral. Seeing Dareus shoot at this 'beast' has Krieg a little concerned, but not overly so as Cantrell is around. Looking to the situation and seeing it not go in a fashion for him to be out in the open, he quickly takes some cover nearby Cantrell and the Grand Admiral. Besides, he'll let everyone else shoot up all the creatures and grenade them. He was here to cover for the Grand Admiral and provide support. Not stand in the open and get blown to pieces. He keeps an eye on both Danik and Johanna for now. Joining the stormtrooper ranks was like being sent down an assembly line; a short training session at the Academy, a few tests, and then deployment. Quantity over quality was the mantra. TK-2706 was fortunate, then - he was one of the handful who had survived years of loyal servitude to the Emperor, now one of the few chosen to accompany the esteemed Grand Admiral Kreldin on his quest to a planet shadowed in rumor. Outwardly, he remained stoic, calm - the stormtrooper armor and helmet took care of that. Inwardly, he was in a panic, heart racing, wishing he was back onboard the Prowler with his comrades. Kreldin's by now notorious side adventures always had an alarming fatality rate. He had a wife, two children. He did not desire to end up like so many of his friends from the Academy had - dead. Kreldin was a fool for coming here - this time he might've bitten off more than he could chew. As the Mandalorian Master Sergeant released his grenade, he took cover waiting for the explosion. No sense in trying to fire blindly ... accuracy was never his strong suit. Danik is taken back by Joh's comment - just who does she think she is? However, any anger he has towards the woman is quickly brushed aside by the advancing creature. He really doesn't understand. This is his first time actually experiencing this sort of situation. So his years of military training kick in and tell him to listen to Johanna. She doesn't want to die, either. So, Danik sucks up his pride and yells after Dareus. "Ensign! When you take a crash course in ground warfare, then you can order the troopers around!" He didn't take the ensign up on it before, namely because the situation wasn't as serious. This was pretty serious. And apparently all they were doing was making it mad. "Cease fire! Cease fire!" he says over the sound of blaster fire, waving his hand. "Pull back and regroup with the rest of the team. We'll see how well our Jedi lady can handle herself..." And perhaps he could learn a thing or two from her. Too late comes the order to cease fire. By now five more shadowy lumps flit in and out of sight, as if enveloped by a shroud that occasionally slips aside to reveal something of the horror underneath. "Classy," the pilot manages from between clenched teeth, stopping again and managing only through sheer discipline to quiet what wants to become her racing heart, "Pull a stunt like that again and we'll have the whole family coming out for a party." She remains perfectly still, but whether the Imperials will follow her example or decide to lob another explosive into the jungle remains to be seen. If they do, it will probably be to their detriment. Hmm. Wouldn't that be nice? She could just hop on their ship and blast off of this rock! "Danik, unless you want to become dinner for a group of twitchy carnivores, I suggest you button it. Like, now." Dareus puts his blaster on safety, stands up and falls back to the rest of the squad; keeping a sharp eye on the apparently razor witted woman. He keeps the blaster ready to be used in his hands; but the finger off the trigger for now; awaiting further orders. Keenly, his eyes wait for what happens next; either she'll take these things down; or he'll be removing chunks of flesh from his already ruined shirt. Either way; something will prove to be most interesting to watch. With his stoic gaze, he remains motionless except for the movement of his eyes, both back and forth; looking between the creatures up ahead, and the woman who is now ahead of the whole group of people. Watching the grenade round fly towards his target, Cantrell gets the cease fire order a little too late. The grenade round explodes with a violent fury, sending brush, tree parts and other debris flailing in the air. Backing away a bit from the front, Cantrell waves his hands back. "Men, form a defensive perimeter. Things might get a little bit heated up." Slinging his ZCF on his free shoulder, Cantrell grabs ahold of his ZCF, throwing a glance towards Johanna. "I hope your as good as they say Jedi are." His voice growls out the words, grabbing Danik by a shoulder. "You better get back, Admiral." Krieg hears the last order head towards Dareus, and he sighs, knowing full well that there was a price to be paid for every action or inaction. He knows the troopers have let loose, and at this rate there isn't much to be said to the Ensign. Of course he was older and had experience, but that was no excuse for going ahead on a mission where you had no idea of what you were up against. Already having dropped to one knee and rifle at the semi-ready, Krieg waits for whatever may happen listening to his superior talk. Under gritting teeth now that the fire has stopped he says to Darues, "Ensign, you better ****ing **** not **** this up and listen to the **** mother****ing ground troops before ****ing blasting the whole place!" It isn't a loud rebuke, as sound may not help the situation further, but he doesn't move, just simply follows what Johanna and Danik are doing. Thank god - the order to regroup was given. At least Kreldin still had his wits about him. The woman that they had ensnared into coming with them from Palpatine's palace was no doubt full of herself, but if she felt that she could handle the creature alone, then so be it. It was not his problem that she remained still and vulnerable. As he rises, he notices the other silhouettes that are heading toward them - if they didn't move fast, they'd soon be boxed in, and all of Cantrell's grenades might not save them then. The stormtrooper turns to the rest of his compliment, aghast at their shell-shocked state. He followed orders - he didn't want to be a hero. He just wanted to live another day. "What are you waiting around for? Go on!" As Danik continues to step back, he's realizing a major mistake he's making. Something Johanna and others had said, and that he overheard. He's emanating fear. And that is not something he can do. Fear will only attract more and more of these creatures, and will only do him harm. He watches with amazement as Johanna practically stands up to the growing number of creatures, and through it all Danik can notice - or feel - almost no fear coming from the Jedi. Watching as his men begin pulling back - and pretending he doesn't hear Krieg's chewing out of Dareus - he steps forward, as calmy as possible, to move up to where Johanna is, ignoring Cantrell's request for him to pull back. He is going to learn something here today - from an unlikely source, indeed. Maybe bringing her along isn't so bad after all. He casts a glance to the side, watching the lady. "So.. what's the plan?" Remnants of some spent Dark cataclysm, the creatures approach the Admiral and the Jedi with a fearless curiosity, moving closer until a soft, high-pitched whistle can be heard coming from their concealed forms. The thought of them being so near is revolting but Johanna holds her ground, determined to test her theory. If things go south she can always resort to cutting the beasts to shreds... right? The leg of her jumpsuit ripples softly as one particularly bold specimen reveals itself to be breathing mere centimeters from her. How is Danik faring? Are they as near to him as they are to her? What if he loses it and bolts? /Fear will only make it worse/, Johanna nudges him through the Force, a wary eye kept turned towards the rustling at her feet, /Forget what you think you know about tactics and just listen to me/. The creature slowly opens its jaws, moving for her leg as if wanting to take out a chunk for a snack, before it seems to decide otherwise and backs up, hooting in a disappointed manner. One of its companions slinks back off into the underbrush, leaving four of them to patrol the remaining would-be targets. Dareus squeezes the grip of his blaster a bit as the creatures take off into the bush. He makes no agressive moves; but raises an eyebrow curiously at the creatures, "I'll be damned..." he says to Cantrell with a quick look. He takes a deep breath and continues to stand his ground, waiting for the Admiral's ok to move forward. He still has his eyes somewhat on the Jedi, but only in passing while he looks to the remaining....things; wondering what their next move will be. Any fear he had, is now gone when he sees the actions of those who ran away; now his thoughts are dominated by curiosity of both the life that is on this planet; as well as the life that very well is this planet. Watching the Jedi and the Admiral standing together, not moving a muscle, the Master Sergeant keeps his blaster at the ready, the infrared scopes in his helmet barely picking up hints of the creatures. He knows they are there, but where exactly is the question. He gestures his men to take a knee and stand guard. "Hold your fire, men. Do not fire until ordered." He looks back at the assembled troopers, turning back to the scene. Seeing once of the creatures manifest itself, a scowl forms on the man's face. "Ugly little bastard." He mutters to himself, keeping himself calm admist the standoff. He really doesn't want a matching gouge to go with the one already on his chestpiece. Krieg has been watching Danik and Johanna for a bit now, and hasn't really moved an inch. Listening to what they were saying and doing he figured one of them was taking a bit of a gamble, but there was a balance here he was seeing, and being angry at Dareus wasn't going to help that balance one bit. So, keeping that in mind he just watches and remains silent. The rest of the men seemed to a bit fearful, and others aggressive, but Krieg decides to place these aside for the time being. There was something going on between these two, he had no idea what or why or how, but he just knew there was some sort of link. It was in the facial expressions, really, and so with that he continues his observation, not paying the creatures too much attention at this point still. If Kreldin wanted to stay, then so be it. "2706" had no intentions of loitering around to become a permanent resident of Ord Trasi. Overhearing part of the conversation between the usually confident Kreldin and the Jedi only brought up more questions; if Kreldin had wanted a lesson, he should've found an appropriate place for one. He shouldn't be risking lives for a wholely personal crusade. They said that Kreldin was the finest officer the New Order had ever produced - if that were true, then the "old man of the Empire" was slipping. "2706" had no ego to bruise - he was ready to run back with the rest of his compliment to the base they had set up, and if he could, all the way back to Kuat, and home. But Cantrell was his superior, and his reassuring tone sems to stabilize the rest of the men, and so he stands there, waiting. Danik regulates his breathing - slowly, calmy. He has to control his fear, and he will learn how to control this situation. The voice in his head is right - Johanna's voice? It must be. Military tactics and training won't get him through this. It won't get him through anything the Sith have to offer. He has to see the world in a completely different view now. Closing his eyes, Danik lets the creatures do what they want - and he attempts to reach out with his feelings, try to feel the creatures through the Force. He can try all he want, but, unfortunately, he just doesn't have it in him yet. Not yet. But he's learning. One of them leaves. Four left. Maybe this will work after all. "Men, stand down!" Danik says, keeping his eyes closed. "We're fine here. Don't want to cause an accident now..." Hey, this isn't so bad after all. In time the other four take off as well to move on to find better prey that will emanate the fear they require for a successful attack. As the last of the creatures slips away, the Jedi exhales a sigh. "Now then! Wasn't so bad, was it?" In her usually obnoxious manner, she claps Danik on the shoulder before turning around to make sure none of the others have had their brains chewed out. Once she's satisfied that they are all still intact, she grins, albeit in a rather demented fashion. "I wonder whose bright idea those abominations were," Johanna muses, "Were they on your schedule of 'disgusting things to engineer', Mister Kreldin?" Another glance to the rest of the party. "Or did any of you dream those up in your spare hours, when you weren't glassing helpless civilians from orbit? Yes? No? Can't recall, maybe? Too many beings to kill, so little time?" It would serve them bloody right to be gnawed to death by one of Ord Trasi's beasts. Time to move on. Dareus keeps his blaster near his side, but no longer level. Something in the way Johanna was talking; made him wonder if those things were even real to begin with; nah, must just be her playing tricks with his own mind, "It's not like I planned on having one of them scratch up my sofa as a pet...." He chuckles a little, then moves slowly forward; keeping an eye on the horizon ahead of them; definately, this is one weird planet; even weirder than the rumors he'd heard. Talk about one hell of a story to bring back to the ship. Still, either way, he hates the way that this woman keeps calling the Grand Admiral with the simple title as mister, "Should we continue to scout ahead, GRAND ADMIRAL?" He seems to quickly shoot Johanna a look while respecfully stressing the rank that the man obviously earned over his years of service. Krieg finds himself oddly not moving, not saying anything, or doing anything. He is keeping almost frozen, and just watches and listens to what Danik and Johanna are saying, trying to comprehend why the lack of doing anything to an apparent threat that seems to be upon them. There are many things that happened throughout the galaxy, but this was a very odd one to be observing. And the Grand Admiral seemed to be beside himself, and he wasn't sure why for this either. Was he getting some new idea or did he have a deathwish for all of them to watch? "An accident" - some term for what they faced. The naval Ensign seemed to want to continue the search ahead, yet 2706's common sense told him that it'd be a better bet to head back to base and take advantage of what seemed like a gift - that the creatures had left. This was enough excitement for one day, no? But apparently no one agreed. Looking around, the rest of his fellow stormtroopers seemed to be as platonic as he was. But who could tell behind the helmets and armor anyway? Who could tell what they were really thinking? So he stood, and waited with the rest, hoping someone would step up and do something. Danik can barely believe his eyes - they're backing off. All of them. Had he finally mastered his own fears? His eyes were wide open now - in more than one sense, too. Control his fears. Manipulate the fears of others. Was fear the key to it all? He glances over to Johanna again, wondering if this woman could be a better master than Malign - where the heck was he, anyway? He said he would come and observe. Perhaps he already is. "No. It wasn't. Not at all..." What other secrets could Johanna teach him? But, before he could indulge in any further learning, she just has to bring up Cochran. "Let's not get into this again, Johanna, please. Spare me. We have a job to do, and Etiel can't wait forever - the obstacles have been cleared. The path is wide open. We're advancing forward," he says, and turns around to face the team. "Master Sergeant Cantrell, you take point. Ensign Dareus, stick to my side at all times; Lieutenant," he says, looking at Krieg, "take squad B. We're moving ahead!" His destiny awaits. He doesn't care what his men are thinking right now, though; they may think he's crazy, losing his mind, or what have you. Let them. It'll keep them on the edge. They just better not question his authority when push comes to shove. And so, the journey continues - and a newly enlightened Danik steps forward, heading towards the Valley. "I hope you're not afraid of heights." After their foray through the jungle, with Danik in none too good a humor, it seems high time to offer a sarcastic comment as the valley opens up before them to reveal the uncomfortably situated path they must negotiate to get to Kreldin's blasted temple. It would just figure for an unnaturally strong gust of wind to carry them off into the chasm below. Or to have some other horde of creatures molest them in ways generally unpleasant. "Do you have any idea whatsoever as to how far it is to your little shop of horrors," Johanna gripes, tired of the journey not because she is ill-used to long travels but because she's getting a crappy bargain any way she looks at it, "Or are you just making wild guesses? Don't blame me if one of your men takes a fall. Won't be my fault." Or will it? She *does* have quite a few means at her disposal by which to "accidentally" shove one of them off the path. Dareus moves up next to the Grand Admiral, as per his orders, taking a quick gander down into the canyon. He maintains his silence; but there isn't really much to say in this place either. He really doesn't think too much of what Johanna mentions of falling; he's had good balance all his life. Granted, looking down that far; makes him definately concentrate on that face; now more than ever. He feels like making a joke right about now; and it brings a small smile to his face as it runs through his head; but then he notices the reality of everyone around him; and he goes back to looking ahead to the path before them. "As you command, Admiral." Cantrell nods towards Danik, rushing ahead of the crowd. The occassional twig or branch slaps up against Cantrell, especially as they go further in and the jungle gets deep. He gestures for two of the troopers to follow ahead, pointing over at TK-2706. "Corporal...you're with me." He looks back over at TK-2706, turning back ahead to his path. Checking the ammo count on his rifle, he leads the group further, catching a few of Johanna's bickering and complaints. "She won't shut up, won't she?" He sighs to himself, continuing forward. He throws his hand up to stop the group, pointing down at the mammoth valley. "Admiral..." He points over to the enormous statues quite some distance away. "Is that where we are going?" Snapping Krieg out of his meditation of sorts is the order from the Grand Admiral to bring up squad B. He moves to a crouch, waves the squad to rally on him and then begins to move carefully behind the Grand Admiral and his primary team. They make their way along the path, careful of where they step and making sure to keep a good footing as they go, as they were there to support the primary team, mainly the grand admiral. Krieg was not on point, one of the troopers was as per ground tactics. All their communication is via hand signals, and they move queitly along, looking and watching for anything to happen. He thinks to himself this is odd, but for some reason he's feeling indifferent about everything right now. No fear, though perhaps this was due to him being tired. At least they were moving now; following Cantrell's lead, 2706 falls into line behind the Mandalorian heading toward the valley, while two other stormtroopers fan out behind him. He had a great respect, mainly due to reputation, for the Grand Admiral, but he could not bring himself to agree with the continuance of this foolhardy expedition. Looking down at his blaster, he makes sure it's still in working condition after that scare. The overhanging jungle was a climate that he wasn't prepared for, and he awkwardly tries to fight his way through the brush. Stormtroopers rarely talked back when spoken to, but he seems to be the exception to the rule. "Arrogant, sir. Not only won't she be quiet, but she's too arrogant." Danik looks over to the white armored stormtrooper he knows to be Cantrell. Who else would it be? "That's where we're going, Cantrell. Straight ahead: only one path there," he says, his eyes looking out ahead, along the narrow and dangerous path through the Valley of the Damned. Maybe it would just be easier to -fly- there. Watching as his men assemble and begin advancing, he takes Dareus by the shoulder and brings him in closer. "Stick close, Ensign. Don't want you getting hurt. Perhaps you should sign up for a course in ground training, hm? You seem like you have it in you... well, get your weapon ready, and mind your step. This isn't like flying. And keep an eye on Lieutenant Krieg... he looks nervous." Danik has to be careful too, of course. But he's been on countless ground campaigns already. He looks over to Johanna, certainly not amused by her jokes. "My men are trained well enough, dear. You need not worry: I'm more concerned about you doing something against us, honestly. But yes, anyway..." he says, digging into his utility pouch and pulling the pyramidal shaped object out. "This is my Holocron. It led me to Ord Trasi, and now it's leading me to the Temple beyond the Valley. And then it will lead me to a Tomb. Then, infinite knowledge and power, dear." He admires his Holocron some more, before shoving it back into his pouch, afraid a gust of wind would knock it out of his hand and down into the chasm below. That would not be nice at all. What the... is Danik *really* getting all friendly with the Ensign? It's all Johanna can do to keep from bursting into rude laughter. The notion of Danik being friendly to anyone is patently absurd. He was ready to trade the life of his poor mother to save himself from being humiliated on IGN, after all! Clearly he's heartless and evil. Clearly he deserves to be shoved over that ledge. When the Admiral takes the Holocron out however, she first grows thoughtful and then the commentary begins anew. Just what everyone was waiting for, no doubt! "This is my holocron," she mimics, "Infinite knowledge and power. Haha! Oh wait, I'm sorry. Did I just laugh out loud?" Without warning, Danik's prized possession finds itself in her grasp now, the small pyramid gripped lightly between thumb and forefinger. "You're too slow to take on the guise of a Sithling," the pilot remarks, tossing it up as if it were a cheap credcoin, "I bet a thousand that the Temple spits you right out for being an ignorant old man." Dareus nods to the Admiral, "All due respect, Grand Admiral, I'm a pilot; this ground stuff, I'm just not that good at." He almost feels like his dad is trying to reach him how to ride a speeder....well, it's time to let the training wheels go. He clicks the safety off of his blaster; and begins a paced walk next to the Grand Admiral; when the holocron flies into the woman's hands, he instinctively cocks the action of the blaster; but then reminds himself that the woman is here for the Grand Admiral; so he doesn't level his blaster up. He does laugh a little bit while watching the woman carefully, "Funny. The Jedi always accused the Sith of abusing power....guess something was definately propaganda in that respect...." "Excellent...that looks like a friendly place indeed." Cantrell chuckles, taking note of the rather unfriendly looking gargoyles on either side. "I just hope they have a pub in there." He carefully helps himself down the uneven terrain, some rocks kicked up as he heads down. "Watch your step, people. I don't feel like filling out any paper work on how some stupid trooper lost his footing and plummetted several hundred feet to his fate." He uses one hand to help support himself, spotting the Jedi taking hold of something Danik really cherishes. "M'lady..." The trooper's black, glassy eyes glare lifelessly over towards Johanna. "As much as you do not like us, I believe that the more you cooperate, the faster things will go, and the sooner you can leave." Spotting Dareus with his rifle, he suspects the Ensign is a bit trigger-happy, especially from all the recent action he's had. "Now for your sake, I suggest you give the holocron back to the Admiral, and we can continue." He rests his rifle on his shoulder, placing a free hand on his hip. Danik is too slow. Before he realizes it his Holocron is in the hands of his worse enemy. And Danik is dumbfounded. "You.. you bitch!" he shouts, refraining from lunging at her, in fear of knocking both of them - including his holocron - off the path and into the chasm. "Johanna, you're being foolish here. You don't know the consequences of your actions... think it through..." he says, a hint of nervousness in his voice. But he's doing his best to control his fear - his first lesson while on Ord Trasi. He watches as his Imperial troopers respond, such as Dareus, who draw their weapons on the Jedi. "There is no escape, Johanna. Do you think you can make it out of this one? Well, I'd rather not make a mess of things here... so you leave me no choice." "I'm sorry to have to do this, dear." He taps his headset, initiating a communication with the ship, back in the field. "This is Kreldin. We have a situation. Contact line 4732, code st-371. Tell them I'm giving the order to begin Directive B. Tell the interrogators to start with the subject's eyes... I hate those green eyes of his. Make it as slow and painful as possible. Understood? Alright, very well," he says, his eyes glued to Johanna's face as he awaits her reaction. Perhaps the poison of the Dark Side has begun to seep into the Jedi's veins again. Instead of prostrating herself before Danik and offering a most sincere apology, she merely shakes her head and takes a dangerous step closer to the edge. "I don't think so," Johanna replies, voice animated with an unmistakeable fury, "Rescind that order or your stupid holocron will join the oblivion below us." As if to make good on her threat, she guides the little object over the edge and keeps it suspended there, out of reach of either Danik or his men. "You know I am not one to make empty threats, and I know that this thing is worth more to you than the feeling of petty revenge you'd get out of doing something to my son. Now rescind the order." So much for keeping her cool on Ord Trasi... perhaps the after-effects of her ordeal with Vadim are stronger than she knows. Dareus maintains his stance, and position, not making and moves as to have her drop the holocron into the....wherever the hell that goes. Either way, he's damn sure not diving after it. He may not be going for her, but he isn't backing down either. His blaster remains ready, but his finger stays off the trigger as to not provoke the woman; instead he just remains calm; awaiting the outcome of this situation that he really can't make any judgement calls; just another incident on this planet that is way out of his league. "Sergeant...look!" One of the troopers at point Cantrell points back towards the quarreling Danik and Johanna, letting out a bit of a sigh. "Stand fast, Corporal." Cantrell grunts, slinging his ST-II on his shoulder, damn well knowning that by him shooting at the Jedi will lead to his untimely death, either by Danik or Johanna's doing. Taking the moment of not moving to his advantage, he takes off his helmet, showing the Master Sergeant's cleaned up face, lacking the trademark beard and messy hair he had until recently. "If you two are finished, may we continue forward?" The Master Sergeant's face grows dark, trying to mediate between the two much like a parent between two children fighting over a toy. "I know both of you know that no matter whatever either of you do, will lead to everyone's demise...especially on a Dark planet like this." Cantrell steps up a bit forward towards Danik and Johanna. "I, along with the rest of you, would very so like to get off this retched planet. So can we move along?" He takes a quick glance between the two. Danik finds himself caught between Cantrell and Johanna, and with his Holocron dangling over miles of open space. This isn't very fair. And who is Cantrell, but a mere Sergeant, to speak to him in such a tone? Cantrell is fortunate Kreldin isn't as mean as he's made out to be by most. He does have a point, however. And at the moment he doesn't have much of a choice; a part of him still feels a bit queasy putting young Etiel through torture. But he would do it if he does not get his Holocron back. "Very well, Johanna. Put the Holocron back in my hands," he says, reacing out with his palm while his other hand taps his headset. "Command, belay that order. Cancel Directive B immediately. Crisis averted," he says, continuing to stare at Johanna. "We don't want to upset Mr. Cantrell any further, anyway." "Quite," Johanna replies, using the Force to reunite Danik with his holocron, "It would be a terrible mistake to upset Mister Cantrell." She watches said minion for a moment, wondering just how great his loyalty is to the old Admiral on a world like this... a world where one's most dreaded nightmare can manifest themselves. "Speaking of Mister Cantrell, how *are* you doing?" Not that it matters much to her; she's here to get Danik to his stupid temple so they can get off this rock and she can be reunited with her son. But perhaps it helps to pretend a little now and then. Just a little. "Did you ever consider getting a better-paying job? I'm sure the Empire can't be compensating you all that much for your efforts." Dareus shakes his head a bit, here we go again, taking a ride down the chasm would almost be worth not hearing any more of her pithy comebacks. Too bad; at least the situation has boiled down; though he stands watching the Jedi woman; really only waiting for everyone else to get moving on the trail. He's had enough of the weirdness of this planet now; his mind only trails on the thoughts of getting the current task over with; as though if he were to think of some fear or loathsome creature; they would have one hit them right along this narrow, and treacherous path. No time for wandering minds like that; better to just be the Admiral's bodyguard; even though the last few words he's been speaking to him, it's more like Dareus is His Majesty's Loyal Terrier. The Master Sergeant offers Danik a faint smile, nodding his head in approval towards the two. "I'm quite happy right now, m'lady." Cantrell replies to Johanna, though not looking at her. "And I do not need to be pampered by High Command and have them telling me how good i'm doing my job..." He pauses to slap down his helmet back over his head, moving forward. "I already know I am." "Corporal, start moving, already." Cantrell barks out a command, pointing forward down the trail. "The Admiral has some business to attend to, and we must make haste." Trip to Ord Trasi, Part 2, The